Since 2009, a year deemed by U.S. government officials as "the worst year for Internet freedom," government control of the Internet has only gotten worse, as countries around the world grow more sophisticated in their efforts to censor and monitor citizens. Today, more than 40 countries around the world censor the Internet, and still others develop new laws designed to limit expression. The year 2012 saw new legislation from Russia, the Philippines, Jordan, and Lebanon, as well as crackdowns on Internet users in countries including the UAE, Ethiopia, and Syria.

In her talk, Jillian York will look at the types of controls governments enact on their online citizens with emphasis on the Middle East and NorthAfrica as well as what various actors are doing to curb the tides of censorship and surveillance.

Jillian C. York is EFF's Director for International Freedom of Expression. She specializes in free speech issues in the Arab world, and is also particularly interested the effects of corporate intermediaries on freedom of expression and anonymity, as well as the disruptive power of global online activism. Prior to joining EFF, Jillian spent three years at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where she worked on several projects including the OpenNet Initiative.

Jillian writes a regular column for Al Jazeera and has also been published by Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, MIT's Technology Review, Bloomberg, and The Guardian, among others. In addition to her work at EFF, she is the co-founder of the award-winning multilingual site Talk Morocco, and serves on the board of directors of Global Voices Online. She resides in the Internet and can frequently be found blogging or tweeting, as @jilliancyork.